The European Comission proposed this Wednesday a new round of sanctions against Russiabetween them a cap on the price of oilor Russian and the ban on European citizens being able to sit on the boards of directors of Russian public companies.
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The cap on the price of oil is in line with the agreement reached by the G7, said the president of the Commission, Ursula Von der Leyenin an appearance before the press to present the measures.
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The prohibition for EU citizens to be part of the boards of directors of companies is designed to avoid possible cases such as that of former German chancellor Gerhard Schröder, who worked for Gazprom.
“Russia must not benefit from European knowledge and its experts,” von der Leyen noted.
The German defended the eighth package of sanctions against Russia as a response to the partial mobilization that the Russian presidentVladimir Putiin, decreed last week, as well as a reaction to his threat to use nuclear weapons and the referendums in areas of eastern and southern Ukraine.
“Last week, Russia took the invasion of Ukraine to a new level. The sham referendums organized in the territories that Russia has occupied are an illegal attempt to acquire territory in order to forcibly change international borders,” said the chair of the Commission. .
“Putin’s mobilization and threat to use nuclear weapons are additional steps on the path of escalation,” he continued, assuring that the EU is “determined to make the Kremlin pay” for it.
According to von der Leyen, the new round of sanctions will deprive Russia of an additional income of 7,000 million euros.
The cap on the price of Russian oil is in line with the political agreement reached by the G7 leaders, proposing that the transport of Russian oil and its derivatives be only allowed globally if the products are sold below a certain amount.
The EU countries will stop importing Russian oil by gas pipeline as of December 5, but “certain developing countries still need a supply of Russian oil at low prices,” said the president of the Community Executive.
This measure “will help to reduce, on the one hand, Russia’s income and, on the other, will keep the world energy market stable.”
In addition, the Commission proposes to expand the products that will be prohibited from exporting to Russia to deprive it of “key technologies”, for example for aviation, as well as electronic or chemical components, so that its economic base and capacity for modernization are diminished.
For his part, the high representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, explained that they have proposed expanding the list of people and entities sanctioned for supporting, facilitating or benefiting from the invasion of Ukraine, which already contains more than 1,300 names.
Specifically, he proposed to include the Russian authorities delegated in the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhiaand other Russian people who have organized the referendums.
He also proposed sanctioning senior officials of the Russian Defense Ministry, who are in charge of supplying the Russian Armed Forces with equipment and weapons, including missiles and fighter jets, and of participating in Kremlin recruitment.
In addition, sanctions against those who spread false information and donate funds to Russian-occupied areas will continue.
In the category of economic actors, “more key operators” will be added, including “people who are not necessarily Russian, but who participate in the circumvention of sanctions,” Borrell said.
Finally, he proposed expanding the geographical scope of the restrictions that have been applied to Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk since the beginning of the year, so that they cover all areas of non-governmental control in Ukraine, including Zaporizhia and Kherson.
EFE
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